


How the Sequels Could Have Ended

by x_Mori_x



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Ending, Plot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-13
Updated: 2020-06-13
Packaged: 2021-03-03 21:53:20
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,832
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24702604
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/x_Mori_x/pseuds/x_Mori_x
Summary: Plot Summary of an alternate Episode IX. Directly following the events of the Last Jedi, the Resistance begins a final attack on the First Order. Both heroes and villains must discover their roles in the galaxy as they all struggle to determine the fate of one young boy.
Relationships: Finn/Rey (Star Wars), Kylo Ren/Rey, Poe Dameron/Armitage Hux, Poe Dameron/Finn, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 4
Kudos: 3





	How the Sequels Could Have Ended

A young boy, one of many children sold to or stolen by the First Order as they grow desperate to expand their armies to accommodate their growing list of conquered planets, is undergoing Stormtrooper training. Having shown much promising talent, the boy along with a few others has been stationed on the Order’s lead Stardestroyer and day in and day out, the children are burdened with schooling, trivial repair jobs, and pledges of allegiance to the Order. What little of their humanity they hold on to is seen in their interactions alone when their training officers and teachers aren’t watching, and it is at these times that some of them make plans to escape. The boy is determined to make it out despite his fears, and his only comfort is his dream that the Resistance will stop the Order someday soon. Each night, he holds the ring that Rose Tico gave him on Canto Bight in hopes that they’ll meet again.

The Resistance flees to the Outer Rim where they meet the few allies they still have and after setting up camp they begin to pick up the pieces of their crippled operations. Leia decides to convene with what few systems wish to still be freed of the First Order and Poe is subsequently asked to oversee the Resistance’s preparations for attack after being repromoted to Commander. Leia after having met Rose admires her for her humble beginnings and her affinity for humanitarianism and so chooses her as her confidant on her journey, along with C3P0. Meanwhile, Rey recognizes that it's time to reforge her lightsaber now that the Skwalkers’ has been severed. The crystal of the lightsaber was severed in two, though Rey takes one of the pieces and using parts of her old bowstaff, she fixes a new lightsaber which now emits a yellow blade. Finn asks her about what being a Jedi is like, and recognizing Finn’s talents with a saber, she feels compelled to ask him about his sensibilities to the force. Despite his protests that he isn’t like her, she nevertheless teaches him to meditate on the force and convinces him to think more seriously about how deep his connection to their story really goes. Finn then asks her what happened on Ahch-To and the Supremacy and Rey relates to him her story. When Finn is told that Kylo knows about her parentage, he reassures her, though she is rather distraught having to admit again that her parents didn’t care for her and were too drunk and non-present to so much as remind her of her own name. Finn expresses a similar sentiment, wishing he had known his family name, though he promises her that the Resistance is her real family and that they’ll always be there for her.

Meanwhile, the First Order has already taken possession of numerous planets, though Kylo is struggling to gain unity among his forces. The Knights of Ren prove to be his closest allies at this time and come to his aid in trying to legitimize his role as Supreme Leader. Still, even bigger opposition for Kylo than the usurped new worlds or his military ranks is the inner circle of dark side enthusiasts followed by Snoke and among whom Kylo and his Knights had been members.Though not adapt with the force and favoring political ability over the supernatural, those with the same passion for power and knowledge of the galaxy’s dark history as Snoke come to question Kylo’s ability to fully fill his master’s former role now that he has revoked Snoke’s ideology and seeks to find his own path to power.

Rey has a vision of future events in which she discovers a dangerous place shrouded in mystery as well as answers. Once she wakes from the vision, she calls to Luke who appears to her now as a ghost. She is at first shocked not knowing that the Jedi had such power and the two briefly reconnect. Rey questions him about the vision she had to which Luke informs her that a young Ben Skywalker once had a similar vision of a girl, presumably her, entering such a place. Rey also asks if there might be a way to sever the bond between her and Kylo that Snoke forged, fearing that it might expose her location and lead to her friends getting hurt again. She also regrets having to kill her friend’s nephew knowing that Luke felt that there was still a chance for redemption in Kylo, albeit not possible for her to accomplish considering all of her previous attempts had failed. Luke tells her that she will only find answers if she returns to his burnt down temple before disappearing. 

Rey, along with the Resistance, go on a secret mission to the remains of Luke’s old temple with Poe and Chewie focusing on keeping an eye on the planet's atmosphere in case the First Order arrives while Rey, Finn, and R2 travel planetside to locate the temple.They are forced to land prematurely as a fierce storm rages above them and struggle against the storm on foot (it can be inferred that the old temple had been partially saved from collapse after the fire due to a similar storm years ago). As they draw nearer to the temple, they encounter a band of pirates come to plunder the temple remains and are soon attacked by the marauders. Finn struggles to see through the downpour while Rey senses the presence of the pirates who are closing in on Finn. Knowing he won’t be able to defend himself with a blaster, Rey quickly throws her lightsaber to him as the pirates come at him with axe-like weapons. As Finn defends himself, Rey relies on the force to fend off her own assailants, though she is soon overwhelmed without her weapon and falls to the ground. Before one of the pirates attempts a harsh blow with his axe, the red, violent blaze of Kylo Ren’s lightsaber pierces through their body. Rey now recognizes the scene of self fulfilling prophecy as Kylo and his Knights stand before her as they did in her vision on Takodana. Kylo freezes Finn in place with the force as he struggles to make it to Rey, who then uses the force to take back her lightsaber and draws the blade. 

Rey and Finn learn that Kylo has tracked them by his connection to Rey and is on a quest to find the place both he and Rey have seen in their visions. He offers to let her help him willingly before he kills her, but after she denies him once again, he commands the Knights to attack. Now equipped with weapons akin to the Praetorian guards in the last film, the Knights now far outmatch the lone Jedi, much to the dismay of the defenseless Finn. Finn watches his helpless friend and begins to fight against Kylo’s hold over him. Slowly, he pushes against Kylo’s power and begins to approach Rey, surprising Kylo and his Knights for only a brief moment. At last, a few Resistance starfighters reach them and begin to fire on Kylo. The distraction buys time for Rey, Finn, and R2 to escape to the temple.

Once there, they begin to rummage through the ruins until Rey happens upon a number of relics Luke had stored there, the most notable being a book of Jedi teachings more modernized than the ones she took from Ahch-To. In it, she finds a lesson on Force Severance. The ghost of Luke reappears to her and informs her that not many Jedi were capable of cutting themselves off from the force as he could as it is an excruciatingly traumatic process and was widely condemned by the Jedi before them. Rey finds it interesting that even the Jedi could have argued with one another on questions of morality seeing as the legends always seemed so wise and unwavering in her mind. Luke gives his blessing in her using the technique on Kylo, hoping that she will be powerful enough in the force to overcome Kylo’s force abilities as he could not.

In due time and through much tribulation, the Resistance has garnered enough support from what few remnants of the Republic still exist and plan to attack the First Order. Poe launches a successful campaign on Kylo’s lead ship and Finn convinces many stormtroopers to join the Resistance as he did in their fight against those who are still committed to the Order. They then take General Hux prisoner, resulting in a mass surrender of First Order troops. Rose leaves Leia in the strategy room to join the front lines and with a small squad along with R2 boards Kylo’s lead ship to rescue a few young cadets who she sympathizes with after having learned more about these child soldiers from Finn. Shortly after, Rey with many of her friends and fellow soldiers enter Kylo’s throne room where they find him and his Knights waiting.The Knights quickly storm the Resistance soldiers while Rey confronts Kylo. Though the fight is rather close, Rey manages to get a hold of him and successfully performs a force severance. Distracted by the continuing frey, Rey fails to catch Kylo before he is able to escape from them. Noticing that Kylo has been defeated, one of the Knights commands the others to cease fighting and after informing the Resistance troops that she is next in command of the First Order, offers to negotiate their terms of surrender.

Rose reunites with the boy from Canto Bight, amazed that she met him again while also deeply saddened that she wasn’t in a situation to take him with her before. She begins to round up some of the cadets to lead them towards escorts out now that the Resistance has taken hold of the ship’s hangers, when suddenly Kylo’s red lightsaber is seen through the dark hall behind them. Rose warns the kids to run, though the boy and R2 lose the Resistance soldiers guiding the others to safety. Knowing he might not have time to find them, he defaults to the plans he had already made to escape and with R2 heads towards the nearest escape pods. Rose falls back with the rest of the Resistance troops and tries to lead Kylo away from the others. She notices the boy and runs after him, though Kylo is in pursuit of them as his only means of escape is the escape pods as well. Without the force, Kylo fails to block Rose’s blaster shots and she is able to wound his shoulder. However, once he closes the distance between them, Kylo kills Rose despite her efforts to save the boy. Kylo then enters one of the escape pods, unaware that the one he boards is the one the boy and R2 have escaped to. After the pod launches into space, Kylo collapses to the floor and notices the boy who is shying away. Kylo tells him to find him a medpack and the boy, knowing full well who this is, obeys his commanding officer. Kylo takes a healing patch the boy finds and thanks him.

The New Republic, though in tatters, is slowly on the mend now that the First Order has been stopped. Still, many grieve those they lost in the battle, Finn in particular very disheartened by the loss of Rose. This loss only makes Finn’s commitment to the Resistance’s efforts to demilitarize the Order all the more stronger. Much to their dismay, however, Leia leaves the Resistance which many speculate has to do with her son’s disappearance. Rey tries to go after her, but she is convinced that she still has to protect the Resistance during their efforts to negotiate with the First Order and they will have to focus on finding Kylo later. Poe, now General, faces much anxiety now that his longtime teacher has left them when he needs her most, but works with the Resistance and Republic Senators in their discussions with First Order officers led by the commanding Knight of Ren who has established a peculiar friendship with Rey.

Meanwhile, Kylo and the boy’s pod finally land on the planet below. The nearest village is filled with outlaws and bounty hunters, convincing Kylo to let the boy and droid follow him. Together, the three look for a way to get a ship (either to take them off world or to get Kylo closer to his destination if it’s on-world). In time, Kylo realizes that the boy, though young and untrained, has some abilities in the force and tells him of the time that his father first saw him use the force, which was met with much ridicule once Han realized that his son had dark tendencies and might be a threat. Kylo tells the boy never to be afraid of who he is and to embrace the gift he has been given. He then tells the boy that he planned to locate an old Sith temple in hopes of learning more about the ways of the dark side, now hoping it will also help him recover his connection to the force. The boy grows to become fond of Kylo, now seeing a more vulnerable side to the tyrant he’d only ever seen in pictures and begins to gain trust in what he has to say.

Finn begins to befriend the Stormtroopers who rose against the First Order in their final battle and they relate stories to one another about what they had experienced serving the Order. He also spends a substantial amount of time with Poe trying to convince the Senate not only on how to humanely disband the First Order but also to appoint the Resistance as the New Republic’s army. Rey feels frustrated that she doesn’t know how to help in this situation and becomes agitated by how inexperienced she is in everything but fighting and scavenging. 

The commanding Knight of Ren assures Rey that she is incredibly gifted all the same, far more than Kylo ever was. She tells Rey that she and the other Knights are also gifted with the force, trained in the ways of the dark side alongside Ren under Snoke, though notably not as favored since Ren was Snoke’s apprentice. She expresses to Rey that the Knights are ashamed of their upbringing in the dark side and asks her to guide them in understanding more about the light. Rey obliges, happy she now has something she can do and someone who appreciates her again. As she trains the Knights, she learns much about them in return, as well as a few things about their past with Kylo and Snoke. With the loss of their leaders, they convince Rey that they look up to her now and ask that she guide them. They believe that the New Republic will once again refuse to take enough action in preventing the First Order from rising again and to extinguish the hold of the dark side on the galaxy. They suggest to her that they leave her friends and go find Kylo Ren before he can uncover more secrets of the Sith. Rey, unaware of the division they are creating in her resolve, agrees. Luke Skywalker once again appears to her to warn her of the dark path she is beginning to take, but believing her master is simply making another mistake in his judgements, Rey elects to tune him out and fails her master as she begins on her new journey alongside the Knights.

Kylo with boy and droid finally come across the Sith temple. R2 refuses to enter the dark place, though Kylo and his apprentice carry on. Once inside, they come across an altar and a voice calls to Kylo. The voice tells him that only he can enter, and his spirit must be free of conflict if he hopes to embrace the dark side. He is told to give up his attachments, and it is then that he knows what he must do. Kylo puts the boy on the altar, ready to sacrifice him with his lightsaber. However, before the boy has time to realize his intentions, he draws his hand away from his weapon in shame. Kylo looks at the boy’s scared eyes which resemble his own. Kylo tells the boy to get down and that they are leaving. However, at the entrance to the temple stands Rey along with her Knights. They quickly surround Kylo, who picks up the boy and draws his lightsaber. The Knights voice their disappointment in Kylo and assure him that they no longer need him now that he has lost all power. One by one, they each take off their helmets, revealing the faces of the young padawans he along with Snoke convinced to betray Luke’s Jedi Order in their youth. Though ashamed of what he’s done to them, Kylo nevertheless stands strong in hopes that he can still rescue the boy. The knights close in on him, though he’s able to create an opening for the boy to run. Still, some of the knights break off from the fight and take the boy. Furious, the boy reaches out and crushes the entrance to the temple. With the fight over, Rey approaches the boy held by the Knights and kindly begins reassuring him that Kylo was not his friend and offers to take him to safety. The boy, afraid and confused, continues to lash out with the force. This prompts Rey to gently incapacitate him with the force and then order the Knights to bring him back to the Resistance. Rey then goes inside with the commanding Knight to find Kylo. Rey is shown visions of when the Jedi Order fell and a future in which the New Republic turns on itself and kills many of her friends. Rey now understands why Luke ran away, but she is determined to not let this failure occur. Meanwhile, the commanding Knight of Ren locates the altar Kylo and his apprentice came to, but is unable to progress any further and in her frustration goes back with Rey to the Resistance.

Having survived, Kylo finds his way out of the temple. After running into R2, he promises him it isn’t his fault that the boy is gone, but is unsure of what he can do now. R2, having seen what happened and now realizing how distressed Kylo is, leads him back to the ship and offers to take him to someone who could help. 

R2 brings Kylo to a strange place where they encounter an old woman dressed in a white hanfu with her face covered by a veiled headpiece. She asks why they are there and Kylo, realizing that the woman is trained with the force, asks if she can help him regain his powers. The woman agrees to retrain him in the force, but it is nothing like any of the training he’d been shown before. Over the course of training, the woman relates to him a history of both the New and Old Republic, as well as the true nature of Anakin Skywalker. At long last, Kylo learns how his grandfather had rejected the dark side in order to save his uncle and how difficult it was for his mother to learn the true identity of her father, the man who slaughtered her homeworld. Kylo, conflicted by this new information, asks how the woman knows all of this. Unveiling herself, the woman reveals to him that she is Ahsoka Tano and tells him how she was once Anakin Skywalker’s padawan and had helped in defeating the Empire long ago. 

The Republic Senate decides once again that the New Republic will not appoint a major military in the hopes that it will prevent another galaxy-wide war breaking out. The Resistance is asked to disband, to which Poe is unsure how to respond. Both he and Finn agree that the Resistance were the ones that acknowledged the First Order was a threat in the first place, but are conflicted as the First Order is now compliant in their disbandment while the remains of the Empire after its fall chose to flee in the last war in order to create the Order in the shadows. The Resistance wants to keep the New Republic safe, but they acknowledge that there is no longer an active threat to peace. 

Hearing of this, Rey becomes worried that the Republic they fought to rehabilitate is now vulnerable to massive in-fighting. Without a military to enforce law, the future she saw in the Sith temple seems likely to her to become a reality. With the Senate oblivious to this and her friends’ inaction against their decision, Rey is convinced by the Knights to gather the First Order as well as those in the Senate who sympathize with them to demand to be heard. Afterwards, the Resistance becomes divided as well, with those wishing to keep the Resistance supporting Rey and the rest remaining in compliance with the Republic. Poe and Finn immediately voice their concerns to Rey, demanding she listen to reason, to which Rey elects to ignore their concerns and refuses to try and explain her vision to them when the commanding Knight convinces her that any attempt to explain such visions to those less adept at the force will only drive a wedge further between them. Instead, Rey elects to part from her old friends and begins her search for power for the Republic, or at least what she wants the Republic to be.

Luke Skywalker appears to his nephew, Ben, and at long last is forgiven by him for failing to tell him the truth and to choose his path for himself. He also tells him of the frustrations with the jedi he had when his own masters failed to tell him about Darth Vader’s identity, and now realizes in his attempt to reject the Jedi, he has still failed in the way that those before him had as well. After Ben slowly regains his connection to the force, his uncle tells him of Rey’s rejecting both him and the teachings of the light side and asks him to stop her. Ben, now proud of the Skywalker name but ashamed of what he has done to his family, decides to avenge his lineage by ending the Knights’ manipulation of Rey and rescuing the boy. Ahsoka leads Ben to her lightsabers and offers them as a gift. She then vanishes, merely a ghost of the former force wielder. Ben selects one of Ahsoka’s white lightsabers and leaves with R2 to find the Resistance.

Rey, believing only she has the power and foresight to lead her new followers, now sits on the throne of her new Order. Finn and Poe, recognizing that Rey and the Knights plan to take the Republic by force, realize that the only way to stop Rey is to strip her of her power. With the help of the prisoner General Hux, the First Order defectors, and the many Republic citizens who volunteered in the last battle, what remains of the Resistance imparts on one last battle to preserve the Republic. FInn, knowing they will have to face Rey, locates what remains of Luke’s lightsaber and follows the force’s call to repair the blade using the other half of the old kyber crystal.

After the battle has begun to ensue, Finn makes his way to Rey’s throne room where she sits alone, dressed much like the Knights who are gone leading the fight against the attacking Resistance. Finn pleads with her to stop her authoritarian rise to power, understanding that she fears the Republic failing, but begging her to let them be free to make such a decision. Rey becomes aggravated by his attempt at understanding her intentions and begins blaming him for abandoning her. While she’s been searching for a way to redeem Kylo Ren and to gain the power she needs to protect her friends, Finn has been committed more to his other friends and their ideals than her. Finn becomes furious and tells her that what they are fighting for and what Rose died for has not been in vain. He reminds her that he is in this fight because he was following her and he would have run away with her a long time ago if she had agreed to back on Takodana. He offers again to go away with her, but Rey, believing that the Resistance is rejecting the Jedi and is hopeless without its old leaders, commits to her new plan for power and refuses Finn again. Finn then pulls out his lightsaber and states that he won’t leave without her. Taking this as a threat, Rey accepts the duel. With much heartbreak and reluctancy, the two friends clash blades. 

Poe and Lando lead an invasion of First Order Stardestroyers, taking General Hux along as leverage to gain access in. Poe arms Hux with a blaster, though he is reluctant to use it as he’s not used to killing and has always had someone to do it for him. Poe resolves to simply keeping Hux alive and they lead the Resistance in a fight against the Knights. 

Ben finds his way aboard the new Order’s lead ship and with R2 is able to track down a cell that the boy is being held in. Ben is relieved that they are finally reuniting, but the boy is now terrified of him. Having heard of what he has done to Rose, the boy feels unsure of what to do. Ben is heartbroken that he has failed him and he himself fails to justify his actions to him. Instead, he settles to lead the boy and other prisoners unjustly being held by Rey to Resistance fighters who will keep them safe during the frey. Ben tells the boy that he’s going to stop Rey and rushes to the throne room, leaving the boy conflicted though still distraught. 

Though Finn is still in the fight, he is severely outmatched by Rey’s abilities. He holds himself in a sword fight, but the conflict takes a turn when Rey reaches out with the force. Finn attempts to fight back, but is quickly overcome. As Rey reluctantly tries to painfully sever Finn’s connection to the force, Ben enters and pushes Rey off with the force. Finn rushes towards Ben in defense of Rey, but Ben quickly forces the lightsaber from Finn’s hands and admires his grandfather’s and uncle’s lightsaber that has now been repaired. Though tempted to keep it, Ben hands it back to Finn and assures him that he isn’t there to kill anyone. Ben then focuses on Rey and attempts to relate to her what Ahsoka has told him. Like his uncle, he wants her to understand that the Jedi’s attempt to gain excessive power to keep the Republic safe was their downfall and that she is repeating the mistakes of his grandfather. Rey takes this to mean that he is still rejecting the ways of the Jedi and she becomes convinced that killing him will be the only way to be rid of him. The two battle, leaving a confused Finn to try and decide how to intervene. Seeing Rey’s rage, he decides to join the fight, though the sides are muddied in the 3-way battle. 

The conflict around them becomes muddied as well, with mass insurrections being staged on both ends. Sides become confused, and friends both mistakenly and intentionally attack friends. 

Rey prepares to lash a powerful blow at Ben, but her saber stops just before making contact with him as Ben switches off his lightsaber. Ben reminds her that she didn’t kill him before when he was defenselessly unconscious onboard the Supremacy and he has faith that she is truly still acting on her same principles. Rey now understands that Ben is being sincere and that he is no longer solely bent on seeking power. After she sheathes her lightsaber, Ben holds her and apologizes for the abusive fear and anger he has instilled in her. Though he thought that they understood one another, he now realizes he never truly considered how he had been as manipulative towards her as Snoke had been to him, and yet he blamed her throughout all their time together. 

Believing Ben’s story and seeing that people can change no matter how far fallen, Rey orders a ceasefire. Though the Resistance has won the battle, the command Knight is furious by Rey’s betrayal and decides to take matters into her own hands. She locates the boy believing that he must understand how to unravel the Sith temple’s mysteries. 

Once at the temple again, the Knight offers the boy to the temple, but the voice there sees that the boy now has lost his attachments and the anger and fear he now faces is of much more interest. The Knight is struck down mysteriously and the boy instead is the one led by the voice to the great mystery they had been seeking in hopes that the powerful Ben will follow.

Poe communicates to Finn that one of the Knights has fled with a boy, to which Ben understands to mean his friend. He urges Rey to help him rescue the boy and he, Finn, and Rey set out to track down the boy.

Rey follows the boy to a strange realm much like the World Between Worlds, though it is a psychedelic place in which all time seems to be occurring in unison. The boy meets a young girl there about his age, who guides him to safety through the strange place. Eventually, Rey finds the boy with his new friend, feeling that she is quite familiar. The girl warns that there is a great evil in this place that is stretching across time, space, and dimensions now that the boy has led it there and she begs Rey and the boy to flee back to the physical world. Rey asks the girl if she is her friend Leia, and the girl suddenly remembers that that was her name before entering here to protect her son before he found the place. Rey then notices that there are other presences nearby and she is met with a peaceful, ethereal scene of those who learned to live on after death through the force. Rey immediately recognizes Luke and is happy to see her master in person again, though she admits to him how ashamed she is that she was the one who failed him this time. 

A soothing voice calls to Rey, drawing her attention away from the Jedi and the boy. The new presence suggests to her that it has seen many futures for her up ahead and suggests to her what she could do next. She may either return to the physical world and follow Ben or stay with the Resistance to help them rebuild. However, the presence tells her that if she were to become one with it, she could stay here and live forever in peace with the Jedi. Here she could learn all the mysteries of the force and become one with the universe. Rey is heavily tempted to keep the feeling of euphoria she receives now that she is ingrained in the force and reunited with her former Jedi. However, she remembers the boy and says that she needs to help him find his way out. Leia calls to Rey while she’s distracted and tells her not to trust the voice. 

Rey backs away from the presence which shifts into the ghostly presence of Darth Sidious. He reveals that his intentions are to find a host that he might be reincarnated and take control of the force conduit they have finally discovered. Rey rushes after the boy as Sidious’ ghostly aura reaches out towards them. Leia intervenes and uses force-like abilities to hold back Sidious and once again tells Rey to flee with the boy. Leia tells her that if they can seal the way to the conduit, their ghosts will be cut off from the physical world and will only exist as one with the living force, but it will also suppress the remnants of the Sith. Rey begs her to come with them, but Leia reassures her that she is fulfilling her destiny and will remain with her family here to protect Ben. Sidious urges Rey to stay, reminding her that if she were to leave and the conduit closes, she will leave the physical world for good upon death. Rey looks to the Jedi one last time before choosing the boy’s life over her own. She runs with the boy out through the conduit and she and Leia close the conduit together behind them. 

Once back in the physical world and reuniting with their friends, Ben takes the boy and holds him close while taking Rey’s hand. Rey hugs Finn and the four share a tender moment in peace. 

Much later, Ben now lives on a seemingly uninhabited but serene countryside. He watches the boy play in the fields as the sun begins to set before them. The Millenium Falcon soon appears in the sky and once it has landed, the boy hugs Ben after promising he’ll be back soon enough, then runs towards the ship. Rey and Finn emerge at the top of the bay door ramp. The boy runs aboard and is taken in by Finn, while Rey lingers and takes a look at Ben. The two share a look of respect and familiarity before Rey nods goodbye and the ship departs once again. 

Back with the Resistance, Finn says goodbye to Poe before he embarks on a trip with Rey. Saddened that he will most likely not see him again for a long time and acknowledging that their lives are going in very different paths, Poe kisses Finn before making their last goodbyes. Poe then boards a ship accompanied by BB8 and Hux on a journey to a Senate meeting to continue their efforts in negotiating the role of the Republic’s new field of officers designed to be peacekeepers instead of soldiers. As chief of this new branch, Poe carries on Leia’s legacy in the Senate and in their efforts to care for the galaxy. Hux has grown close to Poe and after being granted amnesty for his compliance during the war now works closely with Poe in reuniting the Republic while repurposing the remains of the First Order’s resources. 

Rey, Finn, and the boy go into isolation on a remote planet, and together they meditate and train in the force. The boy wears Rose’s necklace as a reminder of his attachment and love towards others. Finn proposes a surname to Rey for them, to which she accepts. Rey writes a recollection of her journeys, and places her writings along with the Jedi texts she has kept before returning to Finn and the boy.


End file.
